Posted: 2/4/2012 12:56:11 PM EDT
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Longtime lurker. After seeing and reading about some of the amazing things some of you guys do on here, I feel I am way behind the curve on getting ready for some of the things that we may be facing in the coming years.
I am trying new things-Such as canning, changing cooking methods, learning to make bread, etc., etc. My question to all of you is "What are you trying new and that is outside what you normally do, that helps you to be more prepared for what we may be facing. I ask so I can learn and maybe see something I may have not even thought about yet. Thank you for your replies. I generally hang out and read in the survival, farm, homestead sections. ___________________________________________ I was born with nothing, still have most of it-GD |
I pay much closer attention to the political situation and world events than I have at any other point in my life. I've always been into the whole self-reliance thing, just because I don't particularly care for having my life in someone else's hands. I'd been doing that for about 30 years before I knew it was called "prepping".  But now things are gettin' kinda real.
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Listening to my wife is a new concept to me.
I've been taking the online FEMA classes, talking to the local CERT trainer, about to jump headfirst into the HAM radio forum. Before I was focusing solely on the tangible side of preps, now I'm focusing on the training aspect. Better late than never. |
| It seems to me too, that I have been following the events of today's world a little closer. I try to imagine what it would be like to not have running water, electricity, or any of the other conveniences. I do camp and such, prep, and have been pretty lucky, so far, to not have been without any of these things, due to hurricanes, tornados or other things. |
| In addition to paying attention to world events I'm trying to instill a survivor mentality in the women folks. That is to make them think about that water running down the drain. One day somebody may have to haul and filter that same water. Also by example in being allert for threats and opportunities. And mentioning things I notice. ie: Did you see that guy on the corner, did he look like he should be there or is he to close? And always watch for free preps or useful trash. Plus expanding my skill set!!!!!! |
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Quoted:
SirSqueeboo, What specific online FEMA courses have you taken and do you happen to have the link to their training site? Thanks. there's a lot to do/learn at the FEMA NIMS courses here: http://www.fema.gov/emergency/nims/NIMSTrainingCourses.shtm and you can find out about CERT here: http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/ *fwiw I'm our county trainer for CERT |
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That is one of my next projects-my plan is to find a local feed store that has hard red wheat, not seed, to put away in bulk. Still working on lots of ideas and I am at least doing something to help myself out. Also planning on doing sauerkraut, and other canning projects. I consider for every quart of food I can, will feed my family 1 meal (soups, chili, beef, chicken, ham etc.). After the "horrible boating accident", I may or may not have Security taken care of,(OPSEC protected, once again) . Thanks again for the ideas, keep them coming.
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Welcome to the SF  Quoted: Sometimes I let the family sit in ignorance...confident that I know that the threats are dealt with. Know what you mean about the "women folks", mine just seems to want to know who is going to be on the batchelor, or who is dancing with the "Stars". Working on that though. Later, if a family member starts squawking about some possible threat, I walk them through the solution. They frequently get a "my papa takes care of business" swagger after such a walk through.   Taking care of the BOVs, knowing how to get where we want to go, having food to eat...that is just part of family life. |
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Outside the box thinking. I been told that I think outside the wrapping.
One of the Clint Eastwood movies had the phrase, "Adapt and Overcome" in it which really defines the difference between a prepper and a sheep. Examples: Basement fire protection: 
Generator "stop the porch from shaking" set up: 
How not to have air leaking through the window while using said generator. 
Even stores that cater to sheep sometimes carry very useful things. In this case the solar lamps from IKEA are only 20 bucks. 
Even old photos can help in an emergency situation. Tell me that a few guys could not put one of these up in a day. 
Light source: 
Heat source: (place two 2x 6s under the heater) 
Being here for awhile has been quite the education for me. Example, I never heard of a kill-a-watt meter till I was here at SF. 
So, welcome to the SF and pay it forward. This was what my wife and I set up for her Dad when he moved to Florida. 
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Quoted:
I put much less store in "stores" and more in my head, although I find as I get older, I have to work harder for things to stick in there. True for me, too. 
I view the entire thing as an exercise in thinking out of the box. You have to be a student of the world, of history and of nature to have the proper perspective. |
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Quoted:
I'd been doing that for about 30 years before I knew it was called "prepping". But now things are gettin' kinda real.
Same here, but I can't define when the social nomenclature rolled over from "gun-crazy-survivalist-type" to "prepper." The term "prepper" still churns my guts when I hear it or say it. It sounds weird and sissified to me (as does nearly all politically-corrected terminology). It denotes that we are prepping for an inevitable event. I don't subscribe to that. Instead, I like to be prepared for whatever may come, yet hope for the best. We are after all, only human. We need to see the good things in this world of ours, and not just all the bad crap we are capable of getting ourselves into. |
I'm the opposite. I just call it living and think everyone should do it. 
I drove through a small nearby farming community yesterday and more than anyplace I've seen, almost every house had a sign selling something..wood, honey, eggs. Outside of nearly every barn, there were big stacks of wood. Neat yards, simple houses, cattle and horses. If the world ever did go bad, those people would be in better shape than most people, and yet I'd be surprised to know any of them considered themselves "survivalists" or "preppers" or anything else. Quoted:
Quoted:
I'd been doing that for about 30 years before I knew it was called "prepping". But now things are gettin' kinda real.
Same here, but I can't define when the social nomenclature rolled over from "gun-crazy-survivalist-type" to "prepper." The term "prepper" still churns my guts when I hear it or say it. It sounds weird and sissified to me (as does nearly all politically-corrected terminology). It denotes that we are prepping for an inevitable event. I don't subscribe to that. Instead, I like to be prepared for whatever may come, yet hope for the best. We are after all, only human. We need to see the good things in this world of ours, and not just all the bad crap we are capable of getting ourselves into. |
| I agree that living is living. I just try to keep in mind that if something bad does happen, that my family and I can have enough to provide us with food, water, & shelter to keep us from being among the sheeple that haven't prepared and it turns into an ugly free-for-all. I can't imagine any scenerio where that is going to be pretty, at all. I spend alot of time reading on this forum and Thank all of you, for this is the best one out of all that I do visit.Thanks for the welcomes also |
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I'm just getting started at this too.
For me, the first thing I focused on was eliminating debt. It's going to take years to do it but by changing habits, getting rid of credit cards, and paying off as much as I can every month I've already started to make difference. PRO TIP: Go through your stuff and find things that you don't really NEED, then sell them on the EE. Use that money towards debt or towards buying things you NEED. Notice I didn't say WANT. Big difference. Welcome and good luck. |
| I have found that if I save my spare change from just buying everyday things, that after about 2-3 months I can have a couple of hundred $ for things that I need. It adds up pretty quick, and yes that is a good idea for things you need, not things that you want. Keeps the clutter down a bit. |
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Quoted:
I have found that if I save my spare change from just buying everyday things, that after about 2-3 months I can have a couple of hundred $ for things that I need. It adds up pretty quick, and yes that is a good idea for things you need, not things that you want. Keeps the clutter down a bit. Another thing you can do to both build up food stocks and cut back on expense is to take advantage of coupons and store sales. Buying multiples (like, for example, 10 tubes of toothpaste) when things are on sale, and coupled with a coupon if you have one, can cut the price to 1/4 of normal... or even free in some cases. A lot of people don't seem to "get" that when you do that, you're not saving the money once - you're saving it ten times. And your stockpile isn't only there for emergencies, it holds you over until the next sale (and gives you time to scrounge more coupons). Eventually you get to the point where it's like going to the store and everything you need is on sale... except that you didn't actually have to go to the store .
You don't have to be one of those crazed mega-couponers they have on some of the TV shows. We buy four or five newspapers every week (which generally pay for themselves with one coupon), and order multiples of stuff we use a lot from Coupon Clippers for pennies on the dollar of savings. After maybe a year of doing that fairly seriously, I'm guessing we've cut our overall grocery bill by at least 30-40%, maybe 50. And acquired a substantial "survival" pantry basically for free. |